PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH WRIST AND HAND PAIN AMONG NURSES OF KARACHI

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the psychosocial physical, and personal characteristics of wrist or hand discomfort among hospital-based nurses of Karachi. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross sectional study among 285 nurses of age group 20 to 45 will be conducted at Lyari general Hospital, NICVD Hospital, and Modern Hospital, Mamji Hospital, and AL Mustafa Hospital to investigate the physical and psychosocial factors associated with wrist and hand pain using standardized Nordic Questionnaire and Pain Catastrophizing Scale. RESULT: The research is being carried out via two questionnaires as (a) The NMQ (Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire) It's used in epidemiological studies to compare complaints in the nine organs including shoulders, neck, low back and other areas of the body and b) PCS (Pain Catastrophizing Scale) is a questionnaire that is used to measure and assess pain catastrophizing. It is used in clinical practice and research to help guide treatment planning; hence been conducted to explore Physical and Psychosocial Factors Associated With Wrist And Hand Pain Among Nurses of Karachi and found significant correlation among inter-dependent relationship of variables as Directions of relation among all dependent variables correlated positively for all items for association as NMQ has positive relationship with PCS as 40.5%. It is observed that male-gender has dominancy as 67.7% population in pain prevalence and 68.8% in pain impact ; also having largest prevalence in age bracket of 26~30 years as 29.5% in pain prevalence and 31.9% in pain impact. CONCLUSION The study aims to assess the physical and Psychologicall aspects related to hand and wrist discomfort among Karachi hospital-based nurses. According to this study, repetitive duties, awkward postures, and severe workloads are the main causes of the high prevalence of hand and wrist discomfort among Karachi's nursing staff. The problem is made worse by psychosocial elements including low job satisfaction and stress. The prevalence of pain was found to be significantly correlated with factors like hospital settings, gender, and age. It is essential to address these issues through stress management initiatives, ergonomic upgrades, and increased staffing in order to enhance nurses' productivity and well-being.